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Revelation 21 · a question people ask

"I saw no temple in it" (21:22). Why does John see no temple in the city?

In the text

Here is what the verse says. "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." (21:22). The verse gives its own reason, in the words after for: "the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple" (21:22). It says no more of this than that, and these notes don't either. They set no other temple in the Bible beside this verse, and they call the Lamb what the verse calls him.

The verses

“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
Revelation 21:22 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Revelation 21

Revelation 21: The holy city, Jerusalem

John is carried "to a great and high mountain" (21:10) and shown a city with "a great and high wall" (21:12). Its gates "were twelve pearls" (21:21), and "Its gates will in no way be shut by day" (21:25). And he says, "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." (21:22).

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Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions